Coffee On Tuesdays
by Dymond
Summary: Every Tuesday, Roger and Joanne go out for coffee. [MoJo, MarkRoger]


**Warnings: **pregnant!Joanne, sick!Roger

**I do not own _RENT._**

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**Coffee On Tuesdays**

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A loud knocking on the loft door is what woke Mark and Roger early one Tuesday morning. Walking out of his room, Roger looked questioningly at his roommate who just shrugged back, before sliding open the door.

"Marky!" A very excited Maureen bounced into the loft, followed by a less-than-enthusiastic Joanne.

Mark blinked a few times to clear his mind. "Maureen? Joanne? What're you doing here at–" He looked at the clock that had died two days ago. "At this early in the morning?"

"Oh, suck it up, Marky, it's only quarter 'til eight." At this point Roger groaned. "I need you to come with me to an audition. You should bring some of your footage of me, you know at protests and other shows, that'll totally impress these people. And, Omigosh – "

Mark sighed and went to get dressed and get some of his film, knowing he couldn't say no to Maureen. Roger flopped down on the couch and tuned out the brunette (it had become second nature since she had lived in the loft) and closed his eyes. When Mark came back out of his room, the musician heard Maureen nearly drag Mark out the door.

A silence filled the loft for a few minutes, until Roger heard a loud tapping. He opened his eyes to see Joanne pacing in front of the couch. "Why are you still here?"

Joanne stopped pacing and looked at Roger, before sitting down next to him with a sigh. "I'm trying this whole 'Give Maureen More Freedom' thing. I'm hoping this will help her settle down a little bit."

Roger snorted. "Come on." He pulled Joanne up off the couch.

"Hey, wait. Where're we going?"

"I'm going to get dressed and then we're going out for coffee so you can rant all you like about Maureen. And so I don't have to stay in here all day." He walked back into his room. "Besides, you're a lawyer, you can afford it right?"

And so a tradition was started.

-

On another Tuesday morning about six months later, Joanne was sitting at a table in the window of a cute little neighborhood coffee shop. She smiled brightly when Roger sat down across from her. "Hey, I went ahead and ordered for you, the waiter should be back out in a minute."

"Thanks," he smiled at the lawyer, and then sat drumming his fingers on the table and humming.

True to Joanne's word, the waiter did return shortly with their coffees. She promptly took Roger's coffee and held it away from him. "You are not getting this back until you tell me what has you so happy, Mr. Dark-And-Brooding-Artist."

Roger looked down at the table and smiled, before looking back at Joanne. "Well, over the weekend I took your advice and asked Mark out."

Joanne's face lit up in a smile as she reached across the table to give Roger a hug. Sitting back down she looked anxiously at the musician, "So, how did it go? Come on, you have to give me all the details."

Roger laughed a little and began to tell Joanne everything about his date with Mark.

-

Two years and one month later, Roger was helping a very pregnant Joanne into the same coffee shop on a bright Tuesday morning.

Joanne sat down heavily at their normal table by the window. "My feet are killing me."

Roger nodded to the waiter (who, by now, knew their orders) and sat down across from Joanne. "I still can't believe you and Maureen decided to have a baby together."

"Please stop with that. Everyone's been saying that for seven months now. I'm so sick of it."

"Yes, but it's odd. We never thought you'd be the one to be pregnant," Roger said.

Joanne raised an eyebrow at him. "You want to deal with a pregnant Maureen?"

Roger scrunched his face up at that thought. "Never mind. You're right."

The lawyer sniffed. "Of course I am. I'm always right."

Roger would've said something witty in return, but some younger teenaged girls interrupted them. "Um, we just wanted to say…um" the girl who was speaking giggled, "You two make a really cute couple. We see you in here every now and then and we just wanted to let you know."

At this point Joanne burst out laughing. "HA! Me date him…haha! That's hilarious. He's almost gayer than I am, and I've known I was a lesbian since I was fifteen. Ha! Me dating Roger, that's priceless."

Roger looked almost shocked as Joanne continued to laugh. "Are you saying you wouldn't date me?"

Joanne reached over and pinched his cheek. "Aw, poor baby, did I hurt your feelers?" She grinned at him. "If I was straight, I _might_ consider going out with you, but I'm afraid your little boyfriend would have my head if I ever acted on it."

Roger grinned back, "Yeah, guess he would. Hey where did those girls go?"

"I dunno," Joanne shrugged, "Guess I scared them off. Hey coffee's here." She gratefully took the steaming mug from the waiter and took a long drink. "Speaking of your boyfriend, how are things between you and Mark going?"

Roger smiled over his coffee cup. "Good, everything's really good."

-

One rainy Tuesday morning, six years and three months later, Joanne stood outside Roger's hospital room with two coffee cups in hand. Maureen was still at home, probably still in bed with their six-year-old son Angel.

She didn't want to go in, because she knew what she would see, and she hated seeing him like that.

Joanne took a deep breath and pushed open the door. Mark was curled up, asleep, in a rather uncomfortable looking plastic chair. Roger was sitting up, awake, looking out the window at the rain.

"Hey," she said quietly and Roger turned to look at her. "Feeling any better?"

He laughed a little. "Not really, but it's better now that you're here with coffee. I didn't know if you'd remember."

"It's been our tradition for eight years and ten months now, how could I forget?" Joanne blinked back some of the tears in forming in her eyes.

Roger smiled weakly. "I can't believe you've been keeping count, you crazy girl."

Joanne pulled a chair up to Roger's bedside and they began to drink their coffee in silence.

Suddenly Roger looked at Joanne and said quietly, "I want you to promise me something."

She nodded, "Anything."

He took her hand. "Take care of Mark, when I die. Take him out for coffee on Tuesdays; make sure he's eating enough. Let him know he's not alone." Roger coughed. "I love you both so much, and I don't want either of you to stop living for today."

Joanne nodded through her tears as she leaned over and hugged Roger. "I'm going to miss you," she whispered.

Roger just hugged her back with what little strength his weakened body had left.

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**Words: **1159

Here we go again. This was written for speedrent challenge #78.

If you read, please review.

Dymond


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